Disney’s latest heroine, Princess Merida, the wild-haired Scottish princess from Brave, marks something of a watershed for cartoon films. Helen Nabarro, head of animation at the National Film and Television School, said: “I think Brave is a departure for the Disney heroine. There is a genuine hardship that Merida has to get out of, and she’s a proper heroine rather than a foil for some bloke. Girls have been shown in cartoons as the weaker sex, but she sorts things out for herself. The film shows the cartoon heroine catching up with real-life women.”

Jim Korkis, a columnist for the online fanzine Mouse Planet and a Disney historian, said: “Disney animated heroines have always reflected their times. Snow White was the model of the women at that time who felt that their life would only be complete with a prince and waited for him to come along.

“After the Second World War, women had experienced the workplace and were more proactive. Cinderella did not just sit around waiting for the prince to come, she went right out to the palace to get him. With the Eighties, Disney heroines became more headstrong. Belle, from Beauty and the Beast, never needed a prince. She was independent and self-sufficient and rather than a prince rescuing her, she was the one who rescued the prince.”

A rapidly growing petition on Change.org is urging Barneys New York to scrap an upcoming campaign that features rail-thin Disney characters in sexy threads.

Titled “Leave Minnie Mouse Alone,” the petition was launched by Ragen Chastain, a Los Angeles-based blogger who advocates for improving girls’ self-esteem, regardless of their size.

“There is nothing wrong with tall thin women,” Chastain wrote in the petition. “There is something wrong with changing a beloved children’s character’s body so that it looks good in a dress that almost nobody looks good in — adding to the tremendous pressure on young girls and women to attain Photoshop perfection.”

The Barneys campaign, dubbed “Electric Holiday,” is a collaboration between the luxury retailer and the Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS). Set to debut Nov. 14, it features the well-known characters — including Minnie Mouse, Daisy Duck and Goofy — as runway models in stylistically detailed renderings featuring various fashionable outfits. The revamped Minnie Mouse is seen proportioned at 5’11’ and a size 0, wearing a hot-pink Lanvin dress.

In an August interview with Women’s Wear Daily, Dennis Freedman, Barneys’ creative director, said Minnie’s model-type body was decided upon after he pointed out to Disney animators that the character’s traditional look — short and stubby — would not flatter the clothing. “I said, ‘If we’re going to make this work, we have to have a 5-foot-11 Minnie,’ and they agreed,” he told WWD.

The campaign will launch as a window display at Barneys’ flagship location on Madison Avenue, which will feature a three-dimensional light show and a short film in which Minnie dreams of being in a fashion show in Paris.